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Audrey Collins was decidedly what people thought of when they referred to a late bloomer. She hadn't had her first real sleepover until she was sixteen years old, but she wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the sensation of waking up with someone. There'd been summers and holidays sharing a bunk with Victoria, of course. That hadn't changed with Vicky moving to town either - more often than not her pale bluenette cousin bunked in the full bed instead of bothering with the daybed.

Waking up with Elzo wasn't even the problem, he'd woken up at her side more days than she could really count while Audrey's parents had been in a coma. That was, until Aree had come back. There were some things that the curly-haired general wasn't willing to parade in front of her captain's eyes. Elzo was one of them, so those odd little sleepovers had stopped.

Now, they were going to be...well. For a good long time. Stretching lightly, a tiny hand pushed back into place the massive ice-blue tshirt he'd loaned her after she'd gone home with him. They'd made-up alright, and were a couple again complete with cuddles and sleepytime snuggles. The stretch was interrupted midway when Audrey realized that she felt...odd. Heavy.

Far too heavy for it to be simply the blankets. Opening her honey eyes fully, the bluenette looked down and simply stared. There, hair all tousled from sleep was the head of one Elzo Xanis, nestled perfectly in the center of her chest. "No wonder..." The hand reached down to push at his shoulder now, tugging lightly at the edges of pale sandy hair.

"Wake up, dork. You're gonna make an Audrey pancake in a minute." It was about as close to an endearment as she got.

"You're just saying that because you want to douse me in butter or something. Syrup. Whatever the heck actually goes on pancakes. I eat waffles." Fingers were already dragging through the tangles, a light blush on Audrey's face as she tried to look down into Elzo's eyes. It was decidedly different, waking up next to someone that you would potentially be next to every day of your (un)natural life. After all, she hadn't forgotten the little box that had been shoved up under her nose less than twenty-four hours ago, nor what it really meant.

It didn't help that a few choice words from a violet-haired Negaverser were haunting her as well. That was what Audrey was stomping on as hard as she could with the thickest mental boots possible. It was a nice morning. She was warm, comfortable, and this amazingly handsome young man was looking at her like the sun came up only because she willed it. Fingers lightly reached out to push at his hair again, combing out the tangles as the teen flushed again under his compliment. "I'm really not, you know that. Besides, it's good for you to play hookie now and then." Pushing up lightly in the soft comfort of the queen-sized bed, she rolled and fell bodily on top of Elzo.

It was a bit comical, she was almost a foot shorter and decidedly lighter than his muscled self. But Audrey was strong, almost supernaturally so, and held him down lightly. "I may not let you outta bed. What then?"

Unfortunately for Audrey and lucky for her boyfriend, words were the quickest way to defeat her in any competition. Sure, he could have tickled her (and did), and yeah it worked as she collapsed into his chest to giggle a bit. A light punch went straight into a strong arm. "You try that, I'll have you in court for false advertising. I know at least four girls prettier than me that I am friends with. You're just weird." Then again, so was she. Everyone was also probably going to wonder just where that legendary brain of hers had walked off to when Audrey had taken Elzo back the night before. But it wasn't like he'd cheated on her. Half of them didn't even understand why she'd broken up with him in the first place anyway.

The easy answer was that Elzo was a force of nature. You couldn't resist him, you couldn't avoid him, you couldn't exist without him. It was odd to think of someone as close to her, if not closer, than Victoria but it had happened. That week where they'd been broken up had been the most miserable that she could remember in a very long time. Hell, she was BLONDE now! If that wasn't totally wrecked, she had no idea what was.

Sticking out her tongue, Audrey snickered. "A goddess? You're going to go to Shufflepuck for cinnamon rolls?" Ambrosia. Pure ambrosia.

There were many things that Audrey was quite willing to do for a single bite of Shufflepuck's cinnamon rolls. Some women were weak for purses, or chocolate, or shoes and actually made their whole lives out of doing demeaning things to have as many of them as possible. Jada, while not demeaning herself a bit, had a weakness for all these things and more. Victoria did demean herself, yet didn't think of it that way in the least. It was the tiny one who had a single material weakness outside of expensive technology, and if all she had to do was kiss the man she loved?

Small change.

But really, it was a betrayal to women everywhere if she simply just let Elzo think that this was easy for her. It was already bad enough that he was holding her like a small child, legs wrapped around his muscled torso while arms held him close. So, very lightly, lips touched a bristly cheek with a smile.

"Good morning. Kiss!"

Morning breath? When a man kissed you like he was happily drowning in every bit of you, he could have had three days' worth of morning breath and she would have still let out that little kittenish purr of delight. It was totally impossible to explain how it felt, to know that you were loved utterly and there was very little you could do to mess that up. Legs dangled and she hummed out of tune to the song as legs dangled.

It took only a moment for her to become playfully indignant again; these days it was a natural emotion for Audrey. Scooting off the table, hands shook out her waist-length curls so that they were a bit mussed before striding into the kitchen and wrapping arms possessively around Elzo's waist. It was doing things like this that she took for granted.

Certainly there was no other time that she could do this! "I'm lucky that you love me, period. I don't care what anyone says, you're better than I deserve." Audrey believed it, wholeheartedly.

The news, sadly, was rather unsurprising and not at all remotely interesting to Audrey. Blah blah dead bodies blah blah crime rate, all of it was related to at least one of the associates she had in the Negaverse. Though she was rather certain that the warehouse that had gone up in flames had been a purely senshi side-effect! Besides, there were much more interesting things in the room than the news passing across the screen in a grotesque love for tragedy. There was Elzo, of course. But there were two dripping, gooey, delicious Shufflepuck cinnamon rolls in front of her face that were simply begging to be devoured.

Half of one was already gone and fingers were being sucked clean of the white frosting when she chased it with a gulp of milk. Elzo ended up being rather lucky in that she was already swallowing when he asked his question. Red suffused Audrey's neck, ears, and face as she stared down into her mug for a long moment, though there was an unconscious smile on her face. "It was...well. You ah. You had to know that I...I liked it." Eyes darted up to his face and back down again, blushing adorably. It had been easier to make the decision and go through with the action than it was to deal with the morning after.

"I know I didn't keep up so well but...I tried. I thought it was good. I'm sorry." Legs came up and an arm wrapped around them, defensive posture as she was totally unsure how to handle the pair of piercing blues aimed at her. He might have sounded as casual as the news, but it wasn't for her. Not at all.

He didn't! Audrey would have taken the fondling of her backside with more grace and ease than she did the stealing of part of her precious cinnamon buns. Honey eyes narrowed into dagger slits, fingers reaching up to stroke at her neck where he had kissed with a calculation sliding through her head. The bluenette-turned-blonde though in equations and numbers more than words and emotions, though the latter usually had a static numerical value that she threw in.

Right now, the equal sign was pointing to the fact that she had to get even.

Trying her very best to act as nonchalant as possible, Audrey's eyes popped open with a bit of surprise. "Oh? You wanted to spend more time together...hmm. I'm afraid I can't, I think I told a group of guys from Hillworth that I'd meet them and hang out. Since I'm all limbered up, I might be able to get in a few good punches this time!" Never mind that the 'guys from Hillworth' were also a bunch of lesser Negaverse officers and the punching would be her smacking them upside the heads with her staff while they tried to get away.

It was training! And besides, he'd stolen her cinnamon roll!

Giggles erupted in the back of Audrey's throat at the growl and possessive grabbing. From anyone else in the world she would have felt the need to assert her own dominance, reminding them that she wasn't just any damn girl and she wasn't about to be manhandled! Elzo, however, was different. Elzo was special. When he manhandled her it came with a whole different set of intentions and meanings that had nothing to do with dominating in a negative fashion or demeaning her in horrible ways. He dominated her with love in every movement, and beneath it Audrey tended to blossom in an entirely feminine manner. Giggles were a good example of it, as were the fingers that tangled in Elzo's hair when arms came around to hold him close to her thin body.

Lips lightly touched the cheek opposite the one she'd kissed earlier, a smile lurking around her mouth and eyes. It was playful, a sign that she'd been joking entirely. "Well, I guess I can cancel the orgy now that I'm a honest woman again. Somewhat." Eyes locked and a blush rose quickly to the surface at the mention of the night after she'd taken him back. After he'd trapped her and begged her to take him back. Even now, the memory warmed the blond and she snuggled in close.

"No one else but us for today." It was easy to agree to, but there was one small disclaimer. "Which means you better hide my cell phone now, because I guarantee that my traitor of a cousin Vicky is going to make it explode when she finds out I didn't come home last night." Ever the conscientious daughter, Audrey had left a message for her parents on the home machine stating where she'd be and that they shouldn't worry. She hadn't been so thoughtful for her cousin, however. After all, she needed some revenge!